This presentation will further expand on research results from a study aimed at identifying the factors which place some older drivers at risk for crash involvement. Specifically, attentional and cognitive factors will be discussed within the context of the model presented by Dr. Owsley. Recent work has indicated that shrinkage in the field is based rather on three other problems: slowing in the processing of visual information; an increased susceptibility to visual distractors; and difficulty with dividing attention. The study noted that eye health, central and peripheral vision, and mental status were more highly related to useful field of view than to crash frequency per se. We thus hypothesized that visual attention may serve as amediating variable between these other variables and accident frequency. This finding will be explained more fully as it relates to the relationships between cognitive status variables, as assessed by the Mattis Organic Mental Status Syndrome Examination (MOMSSE) and the useful field of view. (A) (Only the abstract is presented here; for the full paper see IRRD 850526).
Samenvatting